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1.) Both knives have very tall heels, I think the 8" chef is over 60mm
2.) The 8" chef does have a very usable flat spot. The santaku belly as big as a bear in salmon season.
3.) F/F on both knives varied. The Santaku has a smooth handle while the 8" had rivets and tang sticking out due to scale shrinkage.
4.) The 52100 steel is the real deal. Touched it up on the Takenono and leather strop. Very quiet through phonebook paper.
5.) The distal taper on the 8" is unreal. It goes from about 3.5mm at handle to 0.5mm 1/2 inch from tip.
6.) The grind on both knives are decent. The edge on the 8" isn't completely even.

My conclusion: I'm returning the Santaku and sending the 8" to Dave Martel to smooth the bumps in the handle, widen the sweet spot a bit and thin behind the edge. for $150 I feel like its an excellent knife value but needs tweaking. Hopefully Dave will do a WIP so you can see the changes.

Sur La Table at the Bravern in Bellevue, WA had a santoku and a bread knife, and at Lake View Village in Lake Oswego, Oregon, had 6" and 8" chefs when I talked to them. Free shipping for items over $59 right now, too. I picked up a second utility, because it's just such a useful little knife and hubby is getting his own knife drawer set up, and a paring knife because I've heard so many good things about them. Was sore tempted by the santoku at half price, but I really don't need another knife in that size range.

Update: I've had the ZK Essential for a month or so now. It's had pretty heavy use (for a home cook) and the edge has held up amazingly well. An occasional stropping and the edge stays very sharp. I look at the edge under a 750X glass and don't see any chipping at all. Can't ask for more and the knife is really fun to use.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Update: I've had the ZK Essential for a month or so now. It's had pretty heavy use (for a home cook) and the edge has held up amazingly well. An occasional stropping and the edge stays very sharp. I look at the edge under a 750X glass and don't see any chipping at all. Can't ask for more and the knife is really fun to use.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with these.
I know that they're quite different knives in terms of weight and spine thickness, but which of the stainless versions do you prefer?

Thank you for sharing your experiences with these.
I know that they're quite different knives in terms of weight and spine thickness, but which of the stainless versions do you prefer?

If you're asking about the ZK Essential 10" Chef's vs the 4"parer then I'd have to call it a draw. Both came with 10 degree bevels and are easy to keep very sharp. F&F are flawless on both and I love their profiles. They are also both very fun to use.

If you're asking about ZK Essential vs ZK Damascus (both stainless) then I prefer the Essential. It's lighter, I like the handle better, and it came with 10 degree bevels. The Damascus came with 15 degree bevels and it was a chore to get to 10 degrees. They both look good but people seem to be way more impressed with the Damascus.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

I apologize for my lack of clarity, I was indeed wondering about how the Essential compared to the Damascus. I already have both a ZK 52100 chef's knife and a ZK SG2 parer which are great. It looks like I'll soon be ordering an Essential chef's knife top accompany them.

I apologize for my lack of clarity, I was indeed wondering about how the Essential compared to the Damascus. I already have both a ZK 52100 chef's knife and a ZK SG2 parer which are great. It looks like I'll soon be ordering an Essential chef's knife top accompany them.

I think you'll be happy. What is the length of your ZK 52100 chef's and what size of Essential are you thinking of getting. Just curious. I'm also curious about the cost in England.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

I think you'll be happy. What is the length of your ZK 52100 chef's and what size of Essential are you thinking of getting. Just curious. I'm also curious about the cost in England.

Thanks again for the advise, it's a great help.

I've got the 8" chef's knife in 52100 and I'm thinking of getting the Essential in the same size. I prefer a little longer (around 225mm) with a gyuto, but I tend to find that Kramer's profile allows me to work with a slightly smaller knife. I generally use it for smaller jobs where I don't want to pull out a full size board.

Unfortunately (as far as I can tell) they don't actually sell any of the ZK knives in England, so I'm ordering then from the US; as a result it works out to the US price + 20% (import tax) + around $30 postage.